2. General Mills

Associated with cereal, family, home. Brands line pantry and refrigerator shelves: Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Colombo, Totinos, Jeno's, Pillsbury, Green Giant, Old El Paso, Häagen-Dazs, Cheerios, Lucky Charms. Made Forbes’ list of the world’s most innovative companies earlier this summer; successfully integrate new product lines into the company fold; have been marketing Western brands to burgeoning Asian markets. Mark Addicks has served as the company’s CMO since 2004—unusually long tenure for a CMO—and oversees the company’s Box Tops For Education program, started in 1996, which creates strong bonds between product, consumer and community. The company has also received truckloads of positive media attention since launching its oat-hull fueled biomass flour plant in Fridley, Minn. – cutting the plant’s emissions by 21%.